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Thursday, 9 September 2021 (YJC)_ Russia and Belarus formally opened huge joint army drills that has alarmed some NATO international locations.
Russia and Belarus formally opened huge joint army drills on Thursday, a week-long train throughout the territory of each international locations and within the Baltic Sea that has alarmed some NATO international locations.
Top army leaders from the 2 international locations attended the opening ceremony of the conflict video games, known as “Zapad-2021”, in western Russia the place flags have been raised and speeches given.
The energetic a part of the train, which comes at a time of heightened tensions between the West and Belarus because of a crackdown on the opposition there, begins on Friday and will run till Sept. 16.
The Russian defence ministry stated as much as 200,000 army personnel, some 80 plane and helicopters, as much as 15 ships and practically 300 tanks would participate.
The drills will contain reside hearth and mark the fruits of a much bigger three-month train.
Military personnel from Armenia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia will take part too, the Russian defence ministry stated.
NATO officers have warned that the drills, which comply with an enormous Russian army buildup on Ukraine’s borders earlier this 12 months, improve the danger of an accident or miscalculation that would spark off a disaster.
Russian Deputy Defence Minister Nikolai Pankov stated the drills have been purely defensive in nature and would give Moscow and Minsk an opportunity to enhance the best way their respective militaries work collectively.
Analysts say Minsk’s involvement highlights more and more shut ties between it and Moscow.
The Kremlin has proved a significant ally for Belarus after the West imposed sanctions on Minsk over a violent crackdown that adopted a contested election which gave President Alexander Lukashenko his sixth time period in workplace.
“Lukashenko has gone from not really being willing to participate (in the drills) back in 2017 to being one of the most boastful, in a way, about how important this exercise is in terms of the intimidation that it represents against the West,” stated Mathieu Boulegue, a analysis fellow on the Chatham House suppose tank.
Thursday’s ceremony coincides with talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Lukashenko within the Kremlin.
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